


Happy Birthday, Tony Stark!

by RaptorFace248



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Birthday, Birthday Blues, Bruce Banner - Freeform, Clint Barton Is a Good Bro, Forgotten Birthday, Gen, Natasha Romanoff - Freeform, Rhodey - Freeform, Thor Odinson - Freeform, clint barton - Freeform, pepper - Freeform, steve rogers - Freeform, tony stark - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:01:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24748030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaptorFace248/pseuds/RaptorFace248
Summary: Birthdays are a huge deal at Avenger's tower. They are planned months in advance and are thrown by the others for whoever was born that day. Well, except for Tony, whom no one ever remembers that he has a birthday. They haven't for the last four years.
Relationships: Clint Barton & Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Steve Rogers & Tony Stark
Comments: 10
Kudos: 99





	Happy Birthday, Tony Stark!

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, I just want to say that this takes place after the first Avengers movie. That's all canon. Then... they all just lived together in Avengers Tower for four years being an awesome, dysfunctional family. I have no clue if anyone's going to be shipped yet, but if they are, it'll probably be Steve/Tony. I like that one the best. No smut, it makes me uncomfortable to read, let alone write. Oh, I also like Clint and Tony being bros, but if this turns out as Clint/Tony, I won't be too surprised. That's about it, please enjoy!

Tony POV:

"Happy birthday, Sir." Jarvis's quiet, almost sad voice broke through Tony's semi sleepy state. Furrowing his eyebrows, he looked around his lab for a clock. He surely hadn't been in his lab for four days already. Right? 

Jarvis, recognizing his creator's ambitions, pulled up the time and date on a nearby holograph. "12:02 A.M. on May 29, 2016." Humming a little, Tony reached blindly for the coffee mug he was sure he had set on his desk just minutes before. Finding nothing, he turned to see where it could be. Instead, he saw broken ceramic littering the floor in a small puddle of what used to be coffee. Maybe Butterfingers bumped it?

"Dum-E, grab a mop, will ya?" A pause. "Jarvis, when did tha' happen?" Tony asked, gesturing half-heartedly towards the mess.

"The coffee was knocked over by you (not the 'bot!), Sir, when you attempted to use it as a screwdriver. You then proceeded to get frustrated that it wasn't working, threw it over your shoulder, and grabbed your welder to use as a screwdriver instead. You proceeded to go through several more objects before grabbing the screwdriver above your ear. This was at 2:43 P.M. yesterday... This is also the second time you've inquired about said coffee mug. I must insist you get some sleep, Sir. It's been 94 hours since you've last slept and 92 hours since your last meal that didn't consist of KitKats or frozen yogurt."

"Sleep 's for the WEAK, J. I don' need it."

"I will call Ms. Potts, Sir."

"'ll donate you to a daycare center, don't you dare call 'er!"

"Calling Ms. Potts."

"Trait'r!"

"Tony?" Pepper's tired voice came through the speakers of the lab, usually blasting ACDC or, when he feels like it, Disney songs. "Jarvis called me, go sleep and eat."

"You don' even know tha's why he called!" Tony whined, slouching down in his desk chair. 

"Fine, then why did he call?" 

"Um... to say hi?" 

"Jarvis, when's the last time Tony slept?" Pepper asked.

"94 hours ago, Ms. Potts. Might I add, it has also been 92 hours since eating anything."

"That's a lie! I've eaten," Tony weakly defended himself, already shutting down his SI projects and what looked to be a bodyguard for the coffee machine. It was disguised as a toaster that had machine gun turrets in its slots. That's... mildly concerning. Hopefully, it works.

"What have you eaten?" Pepper asked, knowing it couldn't have been anything of substance.

"KitKat flavored frozen yogurt..." Tony mumbled.

"Where did you get- Never mind. Just go eat and sleep. Please. You have to sign a few things and give the blueprints for the body armor to R&D later today. Good night," Pepper said, hanging up after a muffled agreement from Tony.

Tony sat for a moment more, trying to work up the energy to move.

"J, time?"

"It is 12:34, Sir. No one is currently in the common room or adjoining kitchen if you would like to eat something before sleeping."

"'kay, sounds good. G'night, Dum-E, Butterfingers, U."

The 'bots waved their arms from their spots around the lab, beeping happily as Jarvis shut off the lights.

"Goodnight, Sir."

Tony shuffled over to the elevator where he leaned against the cool metal wall once inside. The lift started moving without having to be directed, moving swiftly towards the Avenger's common room. Once there, Tony walked towards the fridge, grabbing some cold Chinese from, what Tony assumed to be, the team dinner the night before. The others used to try and make him come to team dinners when they first moved in, but by now they've learned it's useless to try and drag Tony away from a lab binge. Besides, he usually came to them, so everyone figured it was better than nothing as long as he also attended Friday movie/video game nights. After all, someone had to beat Clint at Mario cart.

After eating a few bites of nonheated takeout, he put the container back in the fridge and took the elevator up to his floor, nearly crawling into his room and into bed, not bothering to change out of his black sweatpants and tank top. Closing his eyes, he tried to drift off to sleep. Instead, Tony started thinking about what might await him when he woke up.

'Stupid,' Tony thought to himself, snuggling deeper into his huge, empty bed. 'This the fourth year they've lived here. They haven't remembered before, so there's no reason for them to this year.'

Tony thought back to his conversation with Pepper. She hadn't recognized his birthday last year, which had been a punch to the gut when the clock had struck midnight. She always wished him a happy birthday. At least a text if there wasn't time to call or meet up.

'Doesn't seem like she remembered this year, either. Rhodey probably won't even remember. No one wants to. Otherwise, they would have asked you the date. They had to have noticed they've celebrated everyone's birthday but yours year after year. Maybe they don't think it's worth celebrating.' Tony sighed at the depressive thought. It really didn't matter to him that they don't celebrate the day he was brought into the world. 'Who would?' Tony deemed. 'I'm a murderer. The Merchant of Death.' He huffed out a humorless laugh. Yeah, the rest of the avengers probably remembered his birthday. They just had enough sense not to celebrate the life of a person like him. 

Still, that didn't stop him from thinking about the birthday party they had thrown Natasha about a month ago. Since no one knew when her birth date was, they had kinda just picked a date the first time they celebrated it. Now, they throw a party for Natasha on April 16. This year, all the Avengers worked together to "kidnap" the assassin and they all worked together to get out of an escape mansion. It lasted over two days and took two weeks of planning to put it together at one of Tony's properties in California to make sure it would be hard enough for the spy. After leaving the mansion, they flew back to New York and made Vodka floats and cake, watching the Diehard series until the next morning. It was incredible. All of the Avenger's birthday parties are.

Tony rolled over onto his other side, forcing himself to stop thinking and sleep. He closed his eyes and finally drifted off, his bedside clock reading two a.m. being the last thing he sees before slipping into a dreamless sleep.

"Tony. TonY! TOOOONNYYYY!!! Tones, man, wake up!!!" 

The mentioned man opened his eyes to see Clint standing, scratch that, jumping on his bed and calling his name with an open vent behind him.

"Wha' time's'it?" Tony grumbled, taking in a big breath and stretching.

"I dunno, like eight. Get up, dude!! I want you to make pancakes!!!" 

Tony glared at the grinning man lightly bouncing in front of him before grudgingly sitting up. He knew from experience that if he just rolled over to go back to sleep, Clint would get a fire hose or throw him out the window (the first time, Tony didn't know Jarvis had already been told to get a suit ready to catch him. It was terrifying. Now, it's just an adrenaline rush and annoying). 

"Yay!" Clint jumped off the bed and grabbed Tony's slippers, thinking he could at least be a little nice since he woke the man up. The two walked over to the elevator, making it down to the common floor. Rubbing his eyes, Tony walked over to the coffee machine while Clint walked around getting ingredients for the chocolate chip pancakes, eggs, and bacon, humming cheerfully to himself. Only once Tony had consumed two cups of scalding coffee and had a third on standby did they start cooking. Clint was in charge of making scrambled eggs while Tony mixed the pancake batter. Everyone always thought Tony was a terrible cook when in reality, he just had trouble with a few things. One of those being an omelet. 

The first time Tony had offered to cook dinner for everyone else was a few weeks after the Battle of New York. He was immediately shot down and told he was not allowed to even touch a spatula. Tony was confused until he realized they, like the rest of mankind, didn't think he could cook. Deciding he would surprise them, Tony waited until later in the week before cooking an amazing Italian dinner and leaving it on the table for the team dinner that night. When Steve walked into the kitchen to call the pizza place they often ordered from, he saw the food. He asked who cooked it, but no one confessed. After asking Jarvis if any of the food was dangerous, to which Jarvis replied that he had witnessed it being prepared and was fine to eat, everyone sat down and enjoyed the meal. Tony then confessed to cooking it and was now the cook of the team, often with one of them acting as his sous chef. 

Breaking out of his reminiscing, Tony poured some batter into the griddle on the stove. While it was cooking, he started working on the bacon. Clint and Tony usually cooked breakfast together, so they both knew what to do and who liked what. 

The two were finishing setting the table and making the last of the chocolatey pancakes when Steve and Natasha came up from the gym. It was still pretty early, only nine o'clock so Bruce was probably still asleep and Thor was on Asgard, doing prince stuff and warrior things. Natasha and Steve went to go take a quick shower and Clint took the elevator to wake up Brucie Bear leaving Tony to his thoughts. 

'It doesn't matter if they don't care, I can still make the best of this sucky day.' With that in mind, Tony decided he would see if anyone wanted to hang out today. Play some video games with Clint, do science with Bruce, spar with Natasha, and then cook dinner with Steve in the evening. With a smile on his face and a plan ready to go, Tony put the tea on for Bruce and Natasha and made coffee for Steve, Clint, and him. 

As everyone finished eating, Tony drank the rest of his coffee and cleared his throat, gaining the others' attention. 

"What's up, Tony?" Steve asked.

"I was wondering if you guys are doing anything today? You wanna hang out, play video games, watch movies, train..." Tony trailed off, leaving the options open. He would be up for anything they wanted to do today, as long it was together. Even board meetings if they wanted to sit through those for some reason.

Caught up in his musings, Tony didn't notice the others glance at one another.

"I can't. I have to finish up an extremely time-sensitive experiment in the lab," Bruce said regretfully. He liked hanging out with Tony, but he's been super busy this week with a lead he found on his gamma radiation cure.

"That's okay, Bruce," Tony said, trying to hide his disappointment at not getting to hang out with his science bro. At least the others-

"Clint, Natasha, and I received an assignment from SHIELD last night. Another Hyrda base. We're leaving in an hour." Steve grimaced. Tony had been on a lab binge for the last few days and Steve really missed him. Watching movies and playing video games instead of going to infiltrate the small Hydra base Fury caught wind of sounded amazing. It was good that it was going to be a relatively simple mission, only lasting until late tonight. This mission could have even been completed by SHIELD agents instead of three Avengers. "We'll be back by tomorrow morning, though."

If any of Tony's disappointment and utter sadness showed on his face, the others didn't comment on it. In fact, time for sarcasm and humor to act as his defense mechanism. Yay! "The cranky pirate making you do his dirty work again? That sounds like a bunch of fun, sad I'm going to miss it. You'd think Octopus, I mean Hydra, would learn to stay down by now. What is this, like the fourth base we've found this year? Try not to get bored while you're there."

With that, Tony stood up and cleared his place, bidding the other's a good day as he left. Time to spend the rest of his birthday in his lab resisting the urge to get drunk. It's no one's fault but his own no one wanted to spend the day with him. 'Shoulda thought about that before becoming a murderer, huh.'

Tony finished the toaster bodyguard and was throwing himself into upcoming projects for SI, doing all paperwork he would have to do as well. If he wasn't going to be happy today already, might as well succumb to the mind-numbing horribleness that is paperwork. At least Rhodey was coming back from his military mission in a few days. He'd been gone for ages. And if he was holding onto the small hope that the rest of the Avengers were throwing a surprise party, no one but himself had to know. 

"Sir, it's midnight. May I recommend you go to sleep?"

Ah, so that was how Jarvis was going to break it to him. "You could just tell me my birthday's over, J. You don't have to sugarcoat it. I didn't think they'd remember, anyway." He hadn't. Really. No part of him was crushed that he didn't hear a single happy birthday. 'Aside from Jarvis,' Tony's brain added helpfully. 'But I created him and he's an A.I. He couldn't forget a holiday if he tried.'

"I'm sorry, Sir. I still suggest you get some rest. No matter how many times you say otherwise, sleep is necessary for human survival."

Tony seriously considered just putting the lab on lockdown and staying there until Rhodey arrived. However, Tony was tired. Tired of getting his hopes up and having them crushed. Tired of being alone. Tired.

"Shut everything down, will ya. I'm going to bed. Night, guys."

"Certainly, Sir. Thank you."

Waving a hand lazily over his shoulder to acknowledge the 'bots' beeps, Tony trudged into the elevator, then into his room. He showered, shaved, and changed into some pajamas, feeling slightly better now that he was clean. Sighing quietly, he fell into bed, slipping into a troubled sleep dotted with varying demons and nightmares. 

Waking up in a cold sweat for the second time that night, Tony gave up on sleep and decided to get an early start on the work he had lined up for his suit and Rhodey's. The war machine armor was long overdue for a couple of upgrades and Tony wanted to have them prepared for when his honeybear arrived. Grabbing some coffee, Tony headed down to his sanctuary to get lost in some nice, distracting work.

Clint POV:

Yawning, Clint made his way down to the common room. They had returned to the tower at about three in the morning last night and it was currently eleven o'clock. Eight solid hours of sleep was too bad. 

Steve, Natasha, and Bruce were already in the room when he stumbled out of the elevator, ready to make some coffee and become a semi-functioning member of society once again. 

"Mornin', Birdbrain."

"Mornin', Tash. How'd you sleep?" Natasha looked wide awake, but she always looked like that. An average person wouldn't be able to tell if the woman hadn't slept for a week because of how well she could hide anything.

"Slept fine, how about you?"

"Solid night's sleep. Anyone else want some coffee?"

Clint was met with three nodding heads. 

"Alright, one second."

Clint only had time to grab the mugs before he heard the elevator ding. Tony must have been working last night and lost track of time. That, or he fell asleep down there on his lumpy couch and was now ready for his morning bean juice. 

"Hey, Tones. You want some coffee?" Clint asked only to turn around and be greeted by Coronel Rhodes. If he recalls, Rhodey had just gotten back from a long military op in Afghanistan. 

"Does that offer still stand now that you know I'm not Tony?"

Chuckling, Clint moved to the cupboard to grab another mug. "For you, always. Especially after the prank we pulled the last time you were here."

Rhodey and Clint had bought an engagement ring and some roses, balloons, and other lovey-dovey stuff. They then waited until Tony and Steve were walking by before Rhodey got down on one knee and "proposed" to Clint. By the end of it, Tony was crying with joy at the idea of his two best friends together and Steve was confused gay marriage was legal now. Rhodey and Clint yelled "PRANKED!" at the top of their lungs, running away and leaving Tony to explain to Steve that they weren't lying about legalized marriage, just about Clint and Rhodey not actually being engaged. 

"Yeah, that was a fun one. How long did it take Tony to forgive you for it?"

"Two weeks, and then only when I invited him to help me prank Thor with the exact same thing."

"Ah. Where is the birthday boy, anyway. I tried to make it here yesterday, but the soonest I was able to ship out was a few hours ago."

That left Clint confused. "Birthday boy?"

"Yeah, Tones and I always go out and get drunk on our birthdays. I was really hoping to make it back in time last night for our tradition."

This wasn't making any sense. Rhodey's birthday is sometime in the fall, September something, and Tony's birthday is... When is Tony's birthday? Clint tried to remember the latest birthday party they threw the billionaire, but he was turning up blank. Maybe the other's remembered. 

"I think Tony's in his lab if you're looking for him. Will you take him some coffee?" Clint handed Rhodey two cups and went towards the common room to ask the others when Tony's birthday was.

"Guys, when's Tony's birthday? I can't remember."

Bruce and Steve looked deep in thought while Natasha's eyes widened. For her, this was like loudly swearing and took Clint off guard.

"We didn't miss his birthday this year, did we?" Clint asked nervously. He was getting a very bad feeling. 

"Tony's birthday is May 29. That was yesterday."

"We missed his birthday this year?! Why didn't he tell us?" Steve prayed they could make it up to him today.

"We didn't just miss his birthday this year. Can any of you remember a single birthday party we've thrown him?" Natasha looked worried. "Have any of us even wished him a happy birthday over the four years we've been here?"

"You guys have never celebrated Tony's birthday?" The slightly cold but very disappointed voice of Coronel Rhodes made everyone's blood go cold.

"We didn't mean to, we just never realized we've celebrated everyone's but his. Why has he never reminded us it was his birthday?" Bruce asked. He was remembering all the amazing parties the other avengers had thrown him whenever Bruce's birthday rolled around. How had he never realized they've never once celebrated Tony's?

"He shouldn't have to remind you. Besides, he probably thought you all knew it was his birthday but were choosing to ignore it."

"WHAT?! Why would he think that?" Steve yelled. The others nodded at his question. That just didn't make any sense. 

Rhodey looked uncomfortable for a second before sitting down on the couch beside Steve. "He might kill me for this, but... Tony's father wasn't a good person. Ever since Tony was old enough to understand what was being said around him, Howard told him everything he did wrong, always putting him down and verbally abusing him. It was bad. One of those things was making sure to tell Tony every year on his birthday it wasn't worth celebrating someone like him or ignoring that the day even existed. When Tony turned four and no one had wished him a happy birthday, we went and reminded Howard it was his birthday. Howard scoffed and told Tony that he was trying to forget it and the world would be better off if Tony hadn't been born.

"Now that Tony's one of the most famous people in the world he thinks everyone who would possibly care already knows his birthday and is just trying to ignore it if they don't bring it up. He's scared of telling anyone it's his birthday because of Howard's response the last time Tony brought up his birthday to another person. The only time Tony celebrated his birthday was when he thought he was going to die of palladium poisoning a few years back. That was the only birthday party he's ever had."

Everyone in the room looked sad and frustrated. What kind of friends were they to forget Tony's birthday? All of them had heard its date once or twice throughout the years. No, instead every year, even after Tony had helped celebrate everyone else's birthday, they had ignored his. 

"Can we make this up to him?" Steve asked quietly, looking down at his feet from where he was still sitting on the couch. He felt awful.

Rhodey sighed. "I think so. Jarvis, is Tony in his lab?"

"Yes, Coronel Rhodes. Sir has been down there since 4:11 this morning when he was awoken by a nightmare for the second time."

"Jesus, Tony," Clint muttered. They all knew Tony didn't sleep much, but Clint had no idea about the nightmares. A quick glance around the room revealed that the others felt the same way. A long talk with the genius was needed. 

"Alright. Tonight, I'm taking Tony to his favorite bar and we're going to get hammered. Throughout the day, try to show him how much you care and love him. I'm going to go surprise the idiot, he thinks I'm not supposed to be back until later this week. Make It Up To Him." On that note, Rhodey hopped back in the elevator with Tony's slightly cold cup of coffee.

"Avengers," Steve stood up. "Let's plan a party."

Tony POV:

Well, it's not like the pride flag colored suits couldn't be used. They could fly above the parade and Tony could take up his usual position wearing his bi flag iron suit. Everyone seemed to enjoy that. 

"Boo."

Tony startled out of his chair and landed on the hard concrete with an "oof," sending a few tools and circuit boards clattering to the ground with him. With a hand to his chest to slow his breathing, Tony spun around with a grin because he recognized that voice. 

"Platypus!" Tony quickly got to his feet before jumping onto Rhodey, wrapping his legs around Rhodey's waist to hold him steady while Tony bear-hugged his friend. Rhodey only stumbled back a little, quickly setting the coffee mug he was holding down to wrap his arms around the man koala hanging off him. "I thought you wouldn't be back for a few days!"

"Yeah, well I tried to get back yesterday, but this was the soonest I could make it. Happy late birthday, old man!"

Tony froze a little from pure shock and tried not to let his voice waver with gratitude when he answered. "T-thanks, Rhodey. I'm closing in on you, grandpa." He mostly succeeded with the voice thing and prayed that Rhodey didn't hear how sincere and thankful Tony's voice was.

"No problem. You want to go upstairs and celebrate a little? We're going to Connolly's later tonight, though. I'm not missing out on tradition."

"Wouldn't dream of missing it," Tony agreed. As for going upstairs... "I have a lot of work to do right now." 

"Nuh-uh, you are not allowed to blow me off for work." Tony looked a little sheepish at that. "Come on, we can at least bake some stuff and watch crappy movies. I know you still enjoy that from college."

That much was true. Rhodey had soon discovered while dorming with Tony that the dude loved baking cakes, bars, cookies, or even pieces of dough with cinnamon on top so he could sit around for a day with Hallmark movies and his sweets. And by the expression on Tony's face, it seemed like he still enjoyed it and would give in. 

"Can I pick the movies?"

Rhodey grinned. "You can pick the movies as long as we can make donuts and those pecan bars you like to make." And I like to eat went unsaid. Tony smiled and set down the, now empty, coffee mug he had grabbed from where Rhodey set it. 

"Sounds good." Rhodey held out his arm for Tony to take, looking so dopey that Tony had to laugh and accept it. He walked over and grasped the offered arm, the two walking to the elevator like the couples in old, black and white movies did, ready to "Hallmark and Bake" on Tony's floor.

Steve POV:

"Are you even reading the recipe?!"

"Yes! Right here, it says '2 tablespoons of baking powder.'"

"... That says teaspoons, you dunce!"

"IT DOES NO- It does. Well, you just dumped enough salt to melt the north pole into it because you thought it was sugar!"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME BEFORE I MIXED IT!?!"

"I THOUGHT YOU KNEW AND WANTED TO MESS WITH HIM!!"

"WHY WOULD I DO THAT?!?!?!"

Steve entered the kitchen with bags full of balloons, party hats, and other party decorations, including a Hulk piñata for some reason to see Clint and Natasha, covered in flour and batter and surrounded by every ingredient and utensil known to humankind, yelling and cussing at each other. Rolling his eyes, Steve went to taste the cake batter they had made. He lasted two seconds before salt and what tasted like vanilla-scented toilet bowl cleaner mauled his taste buds and he went to spit it out in the garbage. 

"What the frick frack tickity tick tack snick snack flapjack quarterback feedback thumbtack did I just taste?"

"CAKE!!" the wonder twins yelled at Cap before resuming their arguing. They had been trying to make a cake for three hours, so this was definitely not the first failed batch. 

While Steve tried to figure out what flavor of cake it was, he didn't notice how the fight had escalated until Natasha grabbed the bowl of vile "cake" batter out of his hands, grabbing a glob and yeeting it at Clint's face. 

Clint made a show of slowly wiping the gunk off his face, revealing a glint in his eyes and a huge grin. They hadn't had a good food fight in a long time and someone besides him started it. Clint grabbed some nearby eggs and Natasha readied another handful of cake mix, both getting into a fighter's stance. Steve raised his hands and tried to slowly back out of the room before he was involved as well, but Clint noticed and threw six eggs in his direction before Steve could even scream. All six eggs hit their target and Steve grabbed a box of pineapple (all hail the Psych lords), spitting out egg goop as he took aim. Sure, he hadn't wanted to fight, but Steve took those eggs very personally. Soon, they were all hiding behind different pieces of furniture with a small arsenal of ingredients and other assorted foods, forgetting about the birthday problem for a moment.

At some point, Brucie Boy came down to check on how the others were doing. He ended up getting caught in the crossfire and teamed up with Natasha to take down Steve and Clint, also working together. The food fight continued to wage for another hour before two new arrivals stepped onto the floor, freezing when they caught sight of the disaster that was the common floor. 

All four of the food fighters went to attack the newcomers, only stopping when they recognized them as a fond Rhodey and a shocked Tony looking over the room and the two teams. Rhodey then bent and picked up a box of very old takeout, only raising an unimpressed eyebrow in their direction before throwing the contents of the box at Natasha and Clint, declaring with that move that he and Tony were joining the food fight and that they were their own team. Everyone smiled and continued to throw food around the room, Jarvis bringing up a scoreboard on the TV because that's the kind of sarcastic A.I. he is. His creator couldn't be prouder.

Third Person I Guess, Everyone's In The Same Room:

The battle only ended when everyone ran out of projectiles to throw. It was also around that time that most of them remembered what they were doing before the food fight, looking towards the kitchen to see ruined party supplies and a very dirty room. Clint cringed at the mess and looked at Tony, wanting to say something when Tony beat him to it.

"What started this one, anyway?" Tony looked around the room, still a bit out of breath and a ginormous grin on his face.

"Uh, Natasha and Clint were trying to make a birthday cake. For you." Bruce answered, realizing their plans for a decent party were destroyed. 

"For me? Why?" Tony really didn't understand. Why would they celebrate today and not yesterday if they wanted to celebrate at all? The others had a sad look on their faces when he said this for some reason.

"Well, to make up for missing it yesterday. We didn't realize it was your birthday and we want to celebrate it with you. We're sorry it's a day late." Clint replied, rubbing at the back of his neck as a nervous tick he sometimes did. 

"I thought you guys didn't care," Tony mumbled just loud enough for those closest to him to hear.

"No, Tony, we had no idea it was your birthday yesterday," Natasha argued. "I should have and we should have thrown you an awesome party, but we didn't know it was your birthday. We would have celebrated if we did."

Tony was looking a little wary, not quite believing that they didn't know it was his birthday. That they didn't notice they never acknowledged it for four years. 

"We mean it, Tones. But... why didn't you say anything? It's been four years! Four years of missed birthdays." Steve lectured, albeit quietly. 

Tony muttered something only Rhodey seemed to hear since he put an arm around Tony's shoulders and whispered, "I thought I shook that belief out of you during college."

"What? Tony, we didn't hear you."

"He said only people who are worth it deserve to have their existence celebrated. I'm pretty sure he's repeating it from someone who used to tell it to him."

Tony blushed slightly and elbowed Rhodey in the ribs, embarrassed that he had told the rest of his team what Tony said. Everyone's heart broke a little more hearing what Tony thought of his birthday, of himself.

"Dude, you're so worth it. I should have noticed. Please let us make it up to you," Clint started. "Would you do me the honor of playing Mario Cart and Call of Duty with me until six in the morning and having a cuddle party after that?"

Everyone, including Tony, had to smirk. They all secretly loved slumber parties, hugs, and cuddles, probably because they missed out on a lot of it as children. 

"As long as you clean this mess up tomorrow, I think we have a deal, Legolas."

Clint groaned. He thought Tony had finally dropped that nickname. 

"Fine. But you have to grab the blankets and pillows." 

"Sounds good. You want some donuts and pecan bars, too? I made a lot earlier with Rhodey."

"YESSSS!!! I love your pecan bars! Meet you up on your floor. Oh, and Tony."

"Yeah?"

"Happy birthday, dude.

**Author's Note:**

> 5,400 words in five hours. I'm proud. I also think this was pretty good since I wasn't sleep-deprived for most of it. I also really enjoy the forgotten birthday tropes and there aren't a lot of them out there for my boi. Now that it's done, it could be interpreted as Clint/Tony if you squint and tilt your head a little, but I didn't, for once in my life, make the ending with one character confessing their love. Hope you liked it, give me feedback.
> 
> -RaptorFace


End file.
